LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A lawyer says Nebraska has agreed to pay $385,000 to a woman whose lawsuit said the state psychiatric hospital delayed her doctor-ordered mammogram for more than a year and then denied some radiation treatments for her breast cancer.
The settlement follows a federal judge’s decision that Ruth Cecetka's lawsuit could go forward against the Lincoln Regional Center and staff members. She says they failed to properly care for her health after she was committed there Jan. 31, 2013.
A spokeswoman for the Nebraska Health and Human Services Department didn’t immediately return a call Friday from The Associated Press.
Cecetka’s attorney Kathleen Neary told the Lincoln Journal Star that the state didn’t acknowledge any wrongdoing but agreed in the settlement to make several changes at the Lincoln Regional Center.
Among them is a vow to change the center’s in-take forms to include family medical history and questions about the dates of recent preventive care visits such as mammograms and prostate exams. The center also says it will take steps to improve communication among center staff, patients and medical providers.